All I can remember about my childhood is mostly with my grandfather in a small rustic wooden hut. I barely had any recollections about my baby days. Like I said, this is not an Isekai story, so I'm not reincarnated into this world and retained the memories from my previous life. Like any normal human being you won't remember your childhood memories much.
My grandfather was a very humble and wise man. He is strict when it comes to sword training but other than that, he is a wise old granddad to me. One word to sum him up, "Badass". He once beaten up ten thieves that tried to steal our firewood single-handedly without even touching his blade. I've only seen his blade once and wow was it beautiful (I secretly sneaked into his room and unsheathed it which resulted in me getting a beating for that). It is a katana with a shiny yellow blade. Its hilt colour is in the light shade of yellow while the guard's design is just exquisite. I once asked him on what it is and he just said, it symbolises a type of fish that will transform into a magnificent being when used to its full potential. No doubt I'll never see the day of that happening.
According to him, when he unsheathes his katana, I must close my eyes immediately or the light will blind me instantly. Any foes will be blinded for about five to ten seconds leaving themselves exposed for him to slice them up with ease. Either way, you are exposed to his attack even if you closed your eyes which is definitely not something you should be doing in the midst of combat. His record so far was twenty enemies in his prime within that timeframe. That is some insane Iaido level to pull that off. And yes, he tried to beat me into having the same level too! No way am I obtaining that level of skill at the age of ten.
Hence, began my intense sword play at the tender age of five. Apparently, my parents were accomplished swordsman and woman respectively. My father was known as "The light with a thousand slashes" while my mom was "The beautiful beastly dancer". Horrible title I know, but such is the nickname they received from all the gossip which gotten them famous. This resulted in them being called by their respective guild to participate in the battle with the Demon King. All I know is that they both perished during the battle, but their deaths turned the tide in favour of the opposing force which caused the defeat of the Demon King. What the Demon King did to result in a massive world war was still unknown to me at this time.
I held the wooden sword with my sweaty hands. I've lost count in how many times I've swung it in my petite hands over the course of five years that I've been training. My count today was two thousand which marks the end of my evening swings. As I was panting, a creature poked up its head from the ground with a letter in its mouth. Imagine a hedgehog with a pink underside belly. These creatures are unique as they were chosen to deliver items or letters to its intended location. They can burrow into literally anywhere and appear out of the surface disregarding the materials above, yet they somehow do not leave any marks or evidence of their burrowing. The holes that they emerge immediately disappears when they re-burrow. It does not necessarily have to be rodents though. Some bird species do fulfil this role too. I grabbed it up with my left hand while I held the wooden sword on my right.
"Q, thanks for delivering the letter, and sorry for trying to hit you the last time" I apologised.
There was no name given to this critter when I asked grandfather, so I just decided to call it Q as it usually makes 'kew kew' noises. Now I know what you're thinking. Why would I hit such an adorable creature? Yes, I know, I was young and foolish (Grandfather beat me for it too). But apparently these unique creatures are indestructible. Literally immune to all sorts of damage well known to man. They do feel pain, but they won't suffer any wounds or die (Thank God otherwise I'll hate myself for life).
I placed Q back on the ground after taking the letter. It burrowed after making a 'kew' reply and disappears leaving no evidence that it was ever appeared there. I headed to the well for a quick shower before dinner. I sat opposite grandfather with the pot in the middle. It's either stew, soup or porridge which I don't really mind as the taste isn't that bad. I bowed my head slightly as I held the bowl that was handed to me.
"You're ten this year aren't you, boy?" he grandfather.
"Yes, Ojii-san," I replied as I took a sip of the soup. Ahh, warm soup really hits the spot.
"I guess you will be leaving for the city next year," he looked at me with stern yet warm eyes.
I knew about this in advance as he spoke about this a few times while we were training. At the age of eleven, if you want to be an adventurer or a warrior (pretty much the same thing), you must head to the city to join a guild. You'll start out as a newbie of course but you will get to choose the path that you decide. Why become an adventurer you ask? Because you can earn much more while requiring less skillset than let's say a merchant, weapon or armour smith, etc.
"Any suggestion on which guild I should join?" I asked him.
"Hmm," he muttered while brushing his long white beard. Sadly, it's not as magnificently long like those old Chinese TV shows where they stroke their white beard with all its glory.
"Since I taught you in using the ways of the blade, there are two guilds that mostly use it. The first is the Light guild which was your father's guild. It prioritises in using the light arts which focuses on buffing allies and oneself. Your father's specialty was buffing in speed hence that was how he received his nickname. The caster will always benefit the most from the buffs. The other is the Dark Guild which is the opposite. They mostly focus on de-buffing their enemies whether by using fear, overwhelming the enemy or using darkness," he said after much thought.
So, it's either the Light or Dark guild huh, I thought. Perhaps I'll just check out the other guilds to see what they have to offer.
"What about mom? Which guild did she joined?" I asked curiously. The nickname "Beautiful beastly dancer" doesn't exactly scream anything into mind.
"Ahh, she was in the Viking's Guild actually," he recalled.
"She was always an exceptional brute with ridiculous strength despite having a slimmer body frame. I always wondered who felled for whom. Your father was a powerful adventurer but even he could not match the strength of your mother. I hope you don't find such a brute to be your wife my boy," he warned me. Do you really have to say it like that about my mother?
I pondered on the thought. My dad being beaten into submission by my mother by kicking him in the ass. Now that is something that I would never even think of in the first place and great, now it's stuck in my head.
"I'm surprised you did not oppose to their marriage Ojii-san," I said bluntly.
"Haha! I did at first. But I eventually saw the passion in both their eyes and eventually gave in. They were both genuinely in love and most of all, they loved you with all their hearts my boy. When your mother was pregnant, that was the happiest occasion we ever had in celebrating. Both guilds were celebrating together which one of the rarest events that occurred. That goes to show how famous your parents were," he said as he seemed to take a trip down memory lane.
As I see grandfather smiling and pondered in thoughts, I took out the letter that was given by Q and passed to him. He stopped smiling and his features turned grim upon looking at the letter. Strange, I thought. I rarely see grandfather act this way. Especially since the letter envelope did not mention any names but just a symbol. It looked like a fancy E letter.
He reached out, tore the envelope and read the contents. All the while having a grim expression. I've decided to refill my soup as one bowl is just not enough for a growing young boy like me. As soon as the bowl was near my lips as I wanted to sip it, grandfather spoke.
"I guess tomorrow will be an eventful day. Wake up early tomorrow and get ready. We will be heading out," he said that with a smile. Somehow it looked forced.
I nodded and we both began to finish up with dinner. There were small talks but nothing significant. It seems like grandfather's mood took a swing after reading the letter. I really wondered what it is. I retired to bed early that night to prepare for the early rise tomorrow.
All I can remember about my childhood is mostly with my grandfather in a small rustic wooden hut. I barely had any recollections about my baby days. Like I said, this is not an Isekai story, so I'm not reincarnated into this world and retained the memories from my previous life. Like any normal human being you won't remember your childhood memories much.
My grandfather was a very humble and wise man. He is strict when it comes to sword training but other than that, he is a wise old granddad to me. One word to sum him up, "Badass". He once beaten up ten thieves that tried to steal our firewood single-handedly without even touching his blade. I've only seen his blade once and wow was it beautiful (I secretly sneaked into his room and unsheathed it which resulted in me getting a beating for that). It is a katana with a shiny yellow blade. Its hilt colour is in the light shade of yellow while the guard's design is just exquisite. I once asked him on what it is and he just said, it symbolises a type of fish that will transform into a magnificent being when used to its full potential. No doubt I'll never see the day of that happening.
According to him, when he unsheathes his katana, I must close my eyes immediately or the light will blind me instantly. Any foes will be blinded for about five to ten seconds leaving themselves exposed for him to slice them up with ease. Either way, you are exposed to his attack even if you closed your eyes which is definitely not something you should be doing in the midst of combat. His record so far was twenty enemies in his prime within that timeframe. That is some insane Iaido level to pull that off. And yes, he tried to beat me into having the same level too! No way am I obtaining that level of skill at the age of ten.
Hence, began my intense sword play at the tender age of five. Apparently, my parents were accomplished swordsman and woman respectively. My father was known as "The light with a thousand slashes" while my mom was "The beautiful beastly dancer". Horrible title I know, but such is the nickname they received from all the gossip which gotten them famous. This resulted in them being called by their respective guild to participate in the battle with the Demon King. All I know is that they both perished during the battle, but their deaths turned the tide in favour of the opposing force which caused the defeat of the Demon King. What the Demon King did to result in a massive world war was still unknown to me at this time.
I held the wooden sword with my sweaty hands. I've lost count in how many times I've swung it in my petite hands over the course of five years that I've been training. My count today was two thousand which marks the end of my evening swings. As I was panting, a creature poked up its head from the ground with a letter in its mouth. Imagine a hedgehog with a pink underside belly. These creatures are unique as they were chosen to deliver items or letters to its intended location. They can burrow into literally anywhere and appear out of the surface disregarding the materials above, yet they somehow do not leave any marks or evidence of their burrowing. The holes that they emerge immediately disappears when they re-burrow. It does not necessarily have to be rodents though. Some bird species do fulfil this role too. I grabbed it up with my left hand while I held the wooden sword on my right.
"Q, thanks for delivering the letter, and sorry for trying to hit you the last time" I apologised.
There was no name given to this critter when I asked grandfather, so I just decided to call it Q as it usually makes 'kew kew' noises. Now I know what you're thinking. Why would I hit such an adorable creature? Yes, I know, I was young and foolish (Grandfather beat me for it too). But apparently these unique creatures are indestructible. Literally immune to all sorts of damage well known to man. They do feel pain, but they won't suffer any wounds or die (Thank God otherwise I'll hate myself for life).
I placed Q back on the ground after taking the letter. It burrowed after making a 'kew' reply and disappears leaving no evidence that it was ever appeared there. I headed to the well for a quick shower before dinner. I sat opposite grandfather with the pot in the middle. It's either stew, soup or porridge which I don't really mind as the taste isn't that bad. I bowed my head slightly as I held the bowl that was handed to me.
"You're ten this year aren't you, boy?" he grandfather.
"Yes, Ojii-san," I replied as I took a sip of the soup. Ahh, warm soup really hits the spot.
"I guess you will be leaving for the city next year," he looked at me with stern yet warm eyes.
I knew about this in advance as he spoke about this a few times while we were training. At the age of eleven, if you want to be an adventurer or a warrior (pretty much the same thing), you must head to the city to join a guild. You'll start out as a newbie of course but you will get to choose the path that you decide. Why become an adventurer you ask? Because you can earn much more while requiring less skillset than let's say a merchant, weapon or armour smith, etc.
"Any suggestion on which guild I should join?" I asked him.
"Hmm," he muttered while brushing his long white beard. Sadly, it's not as magnificently long like those old Chinese TV shows where they stroke their white beard with all its glory.
"Since I taught you in using the ways of the blade, there are two guilds that mostly use it. The first is the Light guild which was your father's guild. It prioritises in using the light arts which focuses on buffing allies and oneself. Your father's specialty was buffing in speed hence that was how he received his nickname. The caster will always benefit the most from the buffs. The other is the Dark Guild which is the opposite. They mostly focus on de-buffing their enemies whether by using fear, overwhelming the enemy or using darkness," he said after much thought.
So, it's either the Light or Dark guild huh, I thought. Perhaps I'll just check out the other guilds to see what they have to offer.
"What about mom? Which guild did she joined?" I asked curiously. The nickname "Beautiful beastly dancer" doesn't exactly scream anything into mind.
"Ahh, she was in the Viking's Guild actually," he recalled.
"She was always an exceptional brute with ridiculous strength despite having a slimmer body frame. I always wondered who felled for whom. Your father was a powerful adventurer but even he could not match the strength of your mother. I hope you don't find such a brute to be your wife my boy," he warned me. Do you really have to say it like that about my mother?
I pondered on the thought. My dad being beaten into submission by my mother by kicking him in the ass. Now that is something that I would never even think of in the first place and great, now it's stuck in my head.
"I'm surprised you did not oppose to their marriage Ojii-san," I said bluntly.
"Haha! I did at first. But I eventually saw the passion in both their eyes and eventually gave in. They were both genuinely in love and most of all, they loved you with all their hearts my boy. When your mother was pregnant, that was the happiest occasion we ever had in celebrating. Both guilds were celebrating together which one of the rarest events that occurred. That goes to show how famous your parents were," he said as he seemed to take a trip down memory lane.
As I see grandfather smiling and pondered in thoughts, I took out the letter that was given by Q and passed to him. He stopped smiling and his features turned grim upon looking at the letter. Strange, I thought. I rarely see grandfather act this way. Especially since the letter envelope did not mention any names but just a symbol. It looked like a fancy E letter.
He reached out, tore the envelope and read the contents. All the while having a grim expression. I've decided to refill my soup as one bowl is just not enough for a growing young boy like me. As soon as the bowl was near my lips as I wanted to sip it, grandfather spoke.
"I guess tomorrow will be an eventful day. Wake up early tomorrow and get ready. We will be heading out," he said that with a smile. Somehow it looked forced.
I nodded and we both began to finish up with dinner. There were small talks but nothing significant. It seems like grandfather's mood took a swing after reading the letter. I really wondered what it is. I retired to bed early that night to prepare for the early rise tomorrow.
